Re: Operation: Second Afterlife
by SuperPieFanFictions
Summary: An author rewrite of Operation: Second Afterlife. After passing on, the members of Battlefront plan on awakening in a new life. Their plan, however, is broken. Instead, they find themselves thrown into a different Afterlife. Separated in the Shadow filled world, they must come together and find a way out. Disclaimer Within.
1. Obliteration and Resurrection

I Claim No Rights. "Angel Beats!" is owned by Maeda Jun, ASCII Media Works, Kishi Seiji, KEY, and Sentai Filmworks. Please Support The Official Release.

* * *

><p>"Thank you for giving… my life to me."<p>

It happened just like that.

Just like that, she was gone. I was left hugging the air and fell to my knees. Desperate, I tried to find where she was; but she was no longer there. There was nothing.

My tears still streamed down my face, and I could still feel the warmth of her body against my chest.

Confused and alone, I shouted her name as loud as I possibly could, hoping, wishing… begging the cruel world to let her hear my cries. But she was gone - I knew that.

I had no reason to leave the world I was in.

But without her, I had no reason to stay.

My tears never stopped flowing, and yet I somehow felt at peace. I was as calm as the wind. Still on the ground, I closed my eyes.

As everything faded to black, I saw the familiar faces of all the friends I knew. And as each one disappeared one by one, I too faded.

And then… I could see it. The oddly familiar streets of modern day Japan. An oddly familiar girl walking by, humming an oddly familiar tune.

I turned as she passed, and reached out to grab her.

* * *

><p>And everything was black.<p>

I didn't know anything anymore… It felt as if I was drifting through darkness. There was no way to tell what was up and what was down; what was left and what was right.

"Where am I…? Who am I…?" No response. "What am I doing here…?" I could feel nothing but the cold, gripping, darkness on my body, and the warm tears that still stained my face.

The only thing I could see in my head was an image of a girl - a small girl with silver hair.

Who was she? I didn't even know that. But though I didn't know, I spoke her name.

"Kana… de…" My arm raised itself into the air, trying to grasp the name my mouth had just spoken. But no matter how far it reached, it never grasped it. The name floated away, eternally out of the reach of my hand.

The girl named Kanade Tachibana. She floated away, forever out of reach.

Floating… just like…

An Angel.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One: Obliteration and Resurrection<strong>

'_An Angel?'_ A heartbeat. The darkness receded from a blinding white light, yet it was somehow still dark. But now, I wasn't drifting. There was solidity beneath me.

"Alright, we finally have a damn pulse." A rough voice spoke out. I had no idea who it was, but it was strangely familiar. All I could see was the ever-stretching darkness.

"Well, it's about time." I recognized this voice too. _Who… who are you people?_ "He's probably going to be up soon. Hinata. How are things looking?"

"Still nothing. Damn, this thing is worthless!" I heard the sound of plastic slamming into something. "Can't believe they dumped this junk on you, Fujimaki."

"Hey, what do you want from me? They were gone by the time I got here. All the note said was 'Use this to contact us, we have the other communicator. Just say Battlefront's passphrase and we'll answer'."

"Hinata, calm down. We'll figure something out. Fujimaki, how's he looking?" All the voices and names were so familiar, yet so distant. Just like that girl… _Can I just sleep now?_

"Ahh, damn. The moron's falling back asleep!"

"What!?" Loud footsteps made their way towards me, but I still couldn't see anything. "Damn moron, do _not _go to sleep!" _Could you stop calling me a moron…? And I'm so tired… I can't see, my body hurts, and I just want to drift away._

"Yuri, this is _not_ good!"

"I know that, shut up!" I felt their warm hands press against my body. _I… I just want to sleep._ "God dammit, Otonashi! _Wake up!_"

"Yuri, we have to do it. _Now._"

"But, he might not need…"

"YURI!" The one they called Yuri was silent for a few seconds. "Come on!"

"…I got it, alright?" _What are you two talking about?_ "Takamatsu. Get it ready, we're going to have to force his memories." _Wait, my memories?_

"Yuri…" Another voice… this one was more familiar than the rest. _You…_ "Will… Will Yuzuru be okay?" _You! What's your name!?_

"Don't worry. I won't let this moron forget anything." _Forget? I don't want to forget!_ "Fujimaki. Do it!" _No, wait! Whatever you're doing, STOP!_ "Okay, Otonashi."

"NOW!"

"This is an order! Don't make Kanade cry!" _Kanade!?_

…

…

…

I shot up with a jolt; a cold sweat covered my entire body. As I sat there, the blackness began to fade away. It was replaced with the image of a small, rundown hotel room.

Past the metal railing that was supposed to be a footboard for the bed I was on, sitting in the corner, tears streaming down her face, she sat there. Her eyes were probably as wide as mine.

"KANADE!" Ignoring whatever injuries I may have add, I leapt over the railing of the bed and wrapped my arms around her as quickly as humanly possible. "Kanade!"

"Yuzuru…" I could feel something wet and warm hitting my shoulders as I embraced her. "You're… okay." I grabbed her shoulders and pushed myself back, making sure to get a good look at her face - make sure it was really her.

"Yeah. I'm here. Please don't cry anymore." I held her again, but our touching embrace was quickly shattered.

"If you two are done, I'd like to progress things along." Reluctantly breaking away from my hold on Kanade, I looked back to finally start taking in my surroundings.

The seven of us - Kanade, Yuri, Hinata, Fujimaki, Ooyama, Takamatsu, and myself - were all in what seemed to be a tiny room inside of an ancient hotel. There was no drywall left on the walls, and the wood that was left was all rotted to the point that you could probably break it with a poke.

A small window with almost no glass left sat in the wall next to the decrepit bed I had been on only a few seconds ago, and a small, wooden end table with what looked like a walkie-talkie on it sat on the floor on the other side.

To the left of the end table was a small foyer, barely big enough for two people to squish into, which led into an almost broken down door.

"Right… So, for starters." I stood, wiping whatever tears may have still been streaming down my face. "WHERE THE HELL ARE WE!?"

Yuri took a step forward and brushed her hair behind her ear. When she crossed her arms, I made sure to prepare for a lengthy explanation.

"Starting with the big ones, eh, Otonashi? Well, no matter what question you asked, we'd have to give you roughly the same answer. An answer that is, in all honesty, very simple. We're in the Afterlife."

"The Afterlife? Wait, but I thought we just…"

"We did."

"Then, why are…?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Yuri glared into the air. "It's the Shadows."

"Allow me to explain." Now Takamatsu stepped forward, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "We are not currently inside of The Afterlife that we knew at the school."

When we left the 'School World', we did so because we realized that there was no other option. With the so-called Shadow Virus running rampant, we were forced to come to terms with our past and be reborn; or stay and be consumed.

At your suggestion, we probably would have obliterated ourselves without the Shadows, but we were too late at that point. The Shadows were there to force us back into the real world. At least… that was what we believed.

* * *

><p>"When I went down below the guild…"<p>

I discovered that The Afterlife was like a program that was built and maintained by a figure that could very well be considered God. It took people who died with regrets and trapped their souls inside of a different life - one where they could fulfill their desires so that they could pass on in peace.

The Shadows are a Virus in that program. After hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, his sanity couldn't hold on. He became an NPC, one of the things he had created. In his depravity, he infected the Afterlife Program he created with the Shadows.

Under his command, the Virus would hunt down human souls like us and forcibly obliterate them. Their souls would leave their bodies, leaving behind nothing but an NPC.

And so, I destroyed it all. In doing that, I saved The Afterlife from the Shadows. And, in a sense, I did. But it wasn't _The_ Afterlife that I saved - it was _an_ Afterlife.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean…?"<p>

"It means that there are more worlds."

"More… worlds?"

"Don't you get it? Isn't it strange that all of the human souls in our world were teenagers? That no matter how long we stayed there, we never aged or progressed to the next year? Nothing ever changed. But why would that be?"

Everyone remained quiet, like they knew it was rhetorical. They all knew the answer, and I was just starting to come to a realization.

"Then that means…"

"That's right. The answer, in all honesty, is simple."

* * *

><p>We're in The Afterlife - a different Afterlife. One meant to serve as the Afterlife for those who died past the age of a high school student. This is different than our world; The School World. This is a world…<p>

Infested with Shadows.

* * *

><p>It was… a lot to take in at one moment, to say the least.<p>

I sat there, holding my head as I tried to comprehend the vastness of it all. But no matter how many times I thought it over, one thing stood out in my mind. One unanswered question.

"Why us? Why are we here now?" Yuri frowned. I had seen that frown before, so I knew what she was going to say before she said it.

"That one, I can't help you with. There's only so much that we can figure out alone."

"At any rate." Hinata took two steps to stand in front of me, and offered his arms to help Kanade and I up. As he pulled us both to our feet, he continued. "We're here now and there isn't anything we can do about it just yet."

"I guess so." The same stupid smile that he always wore was still plastered on his face, but I could tell something was off. "So, where's everyone else?"

"That's the primary issue, actually. Us four, excluding Fujimaki and Ooyama, have only seen the seven of us here."

"That's pretty much how it is." Fujimaki tapped his shirasaya against his shoulder as he spoke. "Me and Ooyama 'spawned', for lack of a better word, here with T.K. and Matsushita. They took off about… seven days ago?"

"Wai- _seven_!? How long have you guys been here!?"

"Hmm… I dunno. Kind of lost count. Just to put it in perspective, you were out for a solid four days _after_ your body appeared." My head started to hurt again. _How long was I actually drifting inside of that black void?_

"Otonashi. For all we know, it could have been months since our graduation."

"_MONTHS!?_"

"Yep. Nobody could know how long it would take to be reborn after getting obliterated. Even for whomever it is that got here first… it could have taken years."

"At least, in theory." Takamatsu took off his glasses - and somehow the rest of his clothes. "Take a look around for a second." After doing as he said, he continued. "Everything - and I mean everything - in this world is in this sorry state."

"Well, that's depressing." I lightly pressed my hand against the wood inside the walls, but the support beams simply cracked and broke into dust as I did. "Also, why are you stripping?"

"We've discovered that this is due to the Shadow Virus."

You can think of it as a quite literal virus, in fact. When a virus infects a computer, it can potentially harm any files or programs. If you personified that virus, it would go around corrupting everything it touched. And that, indeed, is what this is.

The mere presence of a Shadow has the potential to corrode and decay everything nearby. Prolonged exposure can increase aging speed by multiples that could possibly be in the high hundreds. A mere second touching them might as well be standing around for several years.

But it's also this that proves it hasn't been long since we arrived.

"This building is falling apart due to the Shadows, so if it _had_ been years, it's almost guaranteed that where stand now wouldn't even exist."

"That's great, now put your shirt back on."

"We need to move." Yuri was leaned back against the wall whose corner led to the entrance of the room, her knees bent halfway. "They're coming."

Only a second, maybe even less, after she said that, the door - or what was left of it - shot like a rocket, crashing into the wall within seconds. As I watched each piece shatter into splinters, I could see it from the corner of my eye.

'_A Shadow!'_ I reached down to my waist with both hands, but as I grabbed for what I was reaching for… _'My gun is… gone!?'_

Two gunshots.

The whole ordeal took about four seconds, maybe five, to play through. It broke down the door, and Yuri shot before I would have been able to draw my gun if I had it. It stood for a split second - one that seemed like an eternity -, two holes gaping its face (?).

"RRRAAAHHHHHHH!" It let out a high-pitched scream before it faded into the air.

"There're more of them. Battlefront, get ready! On the count of three!" Everyone else took a battle stance with their weapons in hand as she started. "One." But I…

"Wait guys. I don't-"

"Two."

"-have a…"

"Three!"

"GUN!? Ahh, screw it!" As the other five charged out of the room, I took Kanade's hand and ran out after them.

As I ran through the doorway, I heard more of the high-pitched screams. Yuri had charged them with her knife. It was pretty risky, but I guess she knew what she was doing.

"No time to lose! Now that Otonashi is awake, we're abandoning the hotel. Let's go!" Each one of us nodded in agreement as we charged down the hallway. It was only a few seconds after that when we rounded the corner, and ran into danger.

"Damn!" At least twenty Shadows stood, almost as if they were waiting for us. Yuri took aim immediately "What a waste of bullets." As she began to pull the trigger, her gun was lowered.

"Then don't bother." Fujimaki walked ahead of her, his hand still partially on the barrel of Yuri's pistol. "Get the hell…" As he approached them, he unsheathed his shirasaya. "HELL OUT OF MY WAY!"

It only took a split second, and Fujimaki's body had seemingly teleported. He was already behind them, his blade in one hand and sheathe in the other, and his arms spread out wide.

"R… AAAAHHHHHHHH!" Each one of the Shadows faded away at the same time, leaving nothing behind but a scream.

"Let's go, keep moving!" Yuri ran passed Fujimaki as he slid his sheathe back over the blade, and the rest of us followed.

"A simple thanks. Is that too much to ask?"

After about ten flights of stairs - and fifty or so Shadows - we finally came out to the remains of the hotel's lobby. What was probably once a grand, plate glass sliding door was now nothing but bent metal and shattered glass. It was kind of depressing.

"Heads up, they'll be there by the time we get out."

"Wait, what'll be there?" She didn't answer.

Instead, she charged ahead of the rest of us, her gun and pistol at the ready. Almost the exact second her feet hit the cracked pavement, four or five rose from the ground.

"Die, you damned freaks!" Two gunshots and an extremely large ranged slice were all it took. Three of them had bullet holes piercing them near the top, and the other were in two pieces. These ones didn't even have time to scream. "Alright… they're gone."

'_I swear, these people never cease to amaze me.'_ At that point, I was already out of breath. I figured it had something to do with not moving for at least four days.

"Alright, people." Yuri left her battle stance and holstered both her weapons. She looked around before she turned to us. "We're splitting up. Hinata. You, Fujimaki, and Ooyama head south. Otonashi, Kanade, and Takamatsu, you're with me. We're going north."

"Right," we all said in unison, with the exception of Kanade. She just nodded.

"Hey, Otonashi." I looked over at Hinata just in time to see him toss a gleaming, black, handgun towards me. It was my Glock 17, the pistol I had used in the other world. "Make sure ya check, make sure it works right."

"Thanks, Hinata." I smiled as I caught it. "We'll catch up with you guys later." He nodded, returning my smile, and ran off with Fujimaki and Ooyama right behind him. "Alright, o' fearless leader. Let's go." No response. "…Yuri?"

"I need to talk to you, Otonashi." She didn't even look in my direction. As such, I could only see the side of her face. But even from that, I could tell she was serious.

"About what?" Takamatsu had the same look on his face as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He even put his shirt back on.

"I want you to tell me about everything that happened… when Yui passed on."


	2. Search

Yeah, so I'm late as hell. With Christmas and New Years, plus work, _plus_ the fact that I suffer from major writer's block, I haven't been writing anything at all lately. Kind of got uber-motivated when I found an old hard drive with the ORIGINAL O:SA on it, though. So, yeah~ Now that I have real reference material for this, I can get Chapters done quicker. Hopefully.

Ah, but you're all probably raring to read this one, especially after I took so long, huh? Well, then without further ado.

Chapter Two, Here We Go. Enjoy~

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: Search<strong>

_Shadow City - Middle Sector, 11:55 am_

A gunshot.

A scream.

Those two sounds marked the end for the end for the last Shadow in front of the blue-haired man. As it faded away into the air, he spun his gun around in his hand and slipped it into a holder on his hip.

"Hey, Hinata," The small, brown-haired boy said as he turned to his friend, "how are you doing on bullets?"

"I'm fine for right now, Ooyama." Hinata placed a hand over his holstered pistol. "I've only fired a few since we left, so I won't have to worry if this pace keeps up."

"Heh. If you used one of these bad boys, you wouldn't have to worry about counting shots." Fujimaki swung his Shirasaya around in the air a few times. "Just a quick few slashes and its game over."

"As much as I'd love to have this argument again, Fujimaki," Hinata put his hand on his friend's shoulder as he walked by him, "we have a job to do. Let's go."

As he walked further down the street, the object in his pocket shook from within its confines. Seeing it, Fujimaki could only sigh to himself with smile.

"Right, right, I got it, already."

_Shadow City - North Sector, 12:02 pm_

"Alright," Yuri held her gun down at her waist, the barrel pointed at the ground, "we're good for right now." With that, she stood straight and looked back to us. "Takamatsu, Otonashi, do me a favor and check the surrounding area. Kanade, stay close to me."

"Right. Be safe, Yuri."

"I will, now please stop stripping in front of me."

"Kanade." I looked over my shoulder at the small girl who hadn't let go of my hand since I grabbed hers to drag her out of the hotel. "I'll be right back, okay?" She only gave me a silent nod before running over to Yuri. "We'll come back to report if we see anything."

Yuri gave me the same nod without looking back at me before Takamatsu and I took off.

* * *

><p>"<em>Wha… Yui? What are you talking about?"<em>

"_Isn't it self-explanatory? The five of us, Hinata included, hasn't seen anybody else. Nobody knows who left the communicator, and nobody knows where the rest of Battlefront is. Why do you think I let him take it?"_

_You noticed right? How much pain he was in, even though he forced that smile? He's hurting because he doesn't know._

* * *

><p>Yuri's words kept echoing in my head. No matter how many times I heard it, I couldn't stop.<p>

_"He doesn't know where the girl he loves is."_

'_Hinata… you moron.'_

"Hey, Otonashi." Takamatsu's voice broke me out of my daydream and snapped me back into reality. "Are you still thinking about what Yurippe said?"

"Uh, yeah. It's just kind of…"

"Well, don't harp on it too much, if you can help it. She only got like that because she's worried about a member of her group."

"…Right." At this point, I was just following behind Takamatsu, my gun lowered to my waist. I didn't know what I was looking for, but I figured I'd know if I saw it.

"Hold up." He stopped me by holding his arm out in front of me. "This isn't good…"

"What's going on?"

"Don't you feel it? We're surrounded."

"We're wha-"

As if to interrupt me on purpose, they came. At least twenty in all eight directions - the Shadows filtered out of the ground and circled us within seconds. Takamatsu instantly took aim with a carbine he pulled from out of nowhere.

"Damn… well, at least we know this area isn't safe; not that it matters, though." I raised my gun to my chest and did a quick turn to put my back against Takamatsu's. "Say, Otonashi."

"What's up?"

"You're not too rusty with that, are you? Feel free to sit this one out if you need to."

"Heh." I smiled. "Sounds like a challenge to me." I looked down the barrel of my gun and aimed its sights at a Shadow's head. "Fifty meal tickets say I get more than you."

I couldn't see him, but I know his face got the same smile mine did.

"You're on."

* * *

><p><em>Shadow City - Middle Sector, 12:11 pm<em>

"Toooooorrr…." The sound of a thin, solid object being swung into the air. "YAAAAA!" The Shadows that were unlucky enough to be in the sights of Fujimaki's swing were gone before they could scream. "Damn, they just…" He jumped to the side as one leapt at him. "KEEP COMING!"

With the same sound, it died the same way.

"I don't do well with guns at close range!" Ooyama had his eyes closed, both hands on the trigger, and blind fired into the cloud of darkness.

"Well, just don't hit us, alright?" As if on cue, a bullet headed for Fujimaki. "Heh." He didn't even hesitate or look towards it.

His sword pointed straight up, it quickly jerked it in a half circle, and the bullet changed direction. It moved straight through the head of a Shadow.

"Dammit! Where the hell is Hinata?!" If anyone who didn't know any better had seen him, they might have thought Fujimaki was some sort of acrobat based off of the way he dodged each and every attack with ease.

But there was one that caught him off guard.

"…Shi-"

"You called?" A gunshot. A sinister black spike was only a few centimeters from Fujimaki's face - yet it didn't move.

In fact, none of them moved.

With no time left to scream, every last one of the Shadows faded into the air. Both Fujimaki and Ooyama were at a loss for words. With one eyebrow raised, Fujimaki looked to where the voice came from.

"Hinata, you bastard, you scared the hell out of me."

"Heh, sorry about that, buddy." Hinata only smiled as he slid his gun back into its holster. "Bit slow with the blade, huh?" Fujimaki matched his smug smile.

"Sounds like you're tryna pick a fight with me."

"Nah, nothing like that." With a wave to brush the idea off, Hinata turned around. "Come on, I found something."

As he walked away, Fujimaki could only sigh again.

"Whatever you say, o' fearless dumbass."

* * *

><p><em>Shadow City - Northern Sector, 12:13 pm<em>

We were both out of breath.

Takamatsu and I stood, still back to back, sweat pouring down our faces. There was no living thing besides us within sight.

We had killed every last one of the Shadows that were surrounding us only a matter of minutes ago.

Completely spent, we both collapsed to the ground, only being able to sit back against one another.

"Damn… shooting a gun… really takes… a lot more out of you… than you'd think…"

"Yeah, and they just… kept coming." Takamatsu seemed to be a lot more worn out than me, which was only normal since he had been shooting an automatic gun. "But, hey… at least I won." _What?_

"Ha! You?!" I pushed myself slightly forward and looked at him over my shoulder. "I'm pretty sure I got at least double your kill count!"

I felt him push completely off of my back as he turned to me.

"What are you talking about? I clearly won! I was using a machine gun!"

"It's called 'being outclassed' so just give up and be in my debt, dammit!" I stood up and dusted myself off as I waited for a retort from my bespectacled friend. But that retort that didn't come.

"Taka… matsu?" I looked over my shoulder and then turned half way around to stare dead at the spot that Takamatsu had just been sitting. And yet… "Oi…"

There was nothing there.

* * *

><p>"Yuri…" A small girl with silver hair sat huddled in the corner of a bombed out house, her hands over her head as she cowered in fear. "Where did you go…?"<p>

Waves of them, maybe sixty or more surrounded her. They were unmoving; almost as if they were waiting for her to make the first move. Yet she was too frightened to even open her eyes.

"Help me… Yuzuru."

* * *

><p><em>Shadow City - Northern Sector, 12:09 pm<em>

"I've been hearing those gunshots for a while now. Are those two idiots alright?" Yuri looked around the area, taking several seconds, sometimes minutes, to look at every little thing. Her surveying abilities, however, weren't turning up much of anything useful. "Dammit. Hey, Kanade?"

"Hmm?" Kanade looked at Yuri as she said her name with a questioning look. "Yes, what is it?"

"I have to ask you… you can't…"

An explosion.

It came out of nowhere, and happened only a few feet from behind Yuri. The shockwave it produced sent her body forward a few other feet, and cut her question short.

"Ahh! Yurippe!" Kanade began to run forward, but she was stopped almost instantly.

"No! Don't come closer, or you're going to get caught up in the- Uh…" She was interrupted again. Just as she was warning her friend about it, shrapnel rained down upon the ground, and a large block of concrete struck Yuri in the gut. "G… ahhh."

The force made her cough blood for only a second, and then flew her entire body even further back.

"YURI!" She began to run to her friend, but it was too late. "Oh, no…" With a flash, Kanade could feel her head begin to hurt; it was like a sudden and powerful migraine pounded into her brain and then left as quickly as it came.

And right on cue, they came.

Hundreds, maybe even thousands of Shadows poured endlessly from the ground. They made Kanade freeze in her tracks, unable to move any further to help Yuri.

"Dammit… Kanade! RUN!" They all moved at the same time. Every single one of the Shadows leapt at either one of the two, preparing to drive them with their spike-like arms. "You bastards!" Still on the ground, Yuri got her gun out and began to fire.

They started disappearing one by one from Yuri's reign of bullets, and thanks to them being in a large crowd, a mass of them would die after one shot. But even then it wasn't enough.

A click.

"Wha?" Yuri pulled the trigger yet all the gun did was make an odd clicking noise. "No! Not now!" Ignoring the blood and injuries, she began to stand up and pulled her knife out, then proceeded to charge them blindly.

"AHHHH!" They got closer and closer, yet all Kanade did was cower in fear from them. "YURI!"

"KANADE!" Slicing down the Beasts like a madman, Yuri forced her way through the cloud of blackness trying to get to her, but before she could. "KANA…"

Yuri was gone.

* * *

><p>So, as you can see (if you read the original) we're getting back into the strange and quite random vanishings. And how about those fight scenes!? I, for one, think I've gotten better at making some action come to life.<p>

The fight with the Shadows in a new world continues, as our heroes look for more members of the SSS Battlefront. Hinata's group runs into a familiar face, while Otonashi must run to Kanade's rescue from the horrid Shadow Beasts.

Chapter Three: Leads and Discoveries.

Until Next Time~


	3. Leads and Discoveries

yey, After several weeks, Chapter Three is finally done. Writer's block must be conquered a few paragraphs at a time, people~ At any freaking rate, Chapter Three is a go. So without further adieu, "Here We Go". Enjoy~

* * *

><p><em>Shadow City - Eastern Sector, 12:14 pm<em>

"DAMN…" The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out through the seemingly night sky. "YOU…" Again. "TO…" And again. "HELL!" A fourth and fifth time the sound echoed, and then all went quiet. But before too long, more banging commenced.

Sweat poured down the face of the boy that held a large axe-like weapon as he swung it time and time again against the metal bars of the gate in front of him. Yet no matter how hard and relentless, and no matter how many times he swung, they never budged.

"Dammit all…" After what seemed like hours, he finally threw down his weapon and sat down. "This is the worst situation possible." The boy scanned the area in his sight. He was on an incredibly long bridge that seemed to stretch on for miles.

At even intervals along the bridge, there were wooden benches with metal railings bolted into place on the concrete. Laying on one of these benches was the small figure of what seemed to be a child, wearing black clothes and a flat cap that covered his sleeping eyes.

"I've been walking for at least three days, haven't eaten in longer, Yuri's nowhere to be found and to make matters worse…" His eyes settled on his sleeping companion. "I'm stuck with this little brat." The boy sighed to himself.

Off the side of the bridge was a fairly deep trench filled almost to the top with murky water. Trees grew in and around the river, but most weren't identifiable as 'trees' anymore. And behind him…

"And what the _hell_ is this thing even supposed to be?"

A large gate, at least two kilometers tall and seven meters wide stood behind him. The area behind it was shrouded in mist, so he couldn't see where it lead. He just knew he wanted to get through it.

"Dammit, Yuri… Where _are_ you?"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three: Leads and Discoveries<strong>

I ran. I ran as fast as I possibly could.

'_Dammit, dammit, dammit!'_ My legs moved faster than I ever thought possible, carrying me to where she was. _'Kanade… please be okay!'_

I didn't exactly know why, but I could feel it; something besides Takamatsu's sudden vanishing was off. I had this impending feeling that all of my friends were in grave danger the very second after I saw him vanish.

What led me to that conclusion, though I don't know why, was a sharp pain that continued to pound at me from within my head even at that point.

'_Damn… this hurts so much! I don't know how much longer I'll be able to… huh?'_ It stopped. The very instant I thought the pain was going to kill me, it subsided. And the reason was clear, even though I had no idea why it felt that way.

I came across a horrific scene.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of them swarmed a large plaza; no matter where you looked you would only see massive cloud of pitch black darkness.

Every inch of object they came into contact with broke apart and faded into dust - pavement, the ground beneath, benches, railings… even the air itself seemed to decay.

And at the center off all of it…

"KANADE!" I instantly pulled my Glock and began to fire at the cloud. I wasn't even aiming properly but every shot tore through several of them due to their crowdedness. "GET AWAY FROM HER!"

"YUZURU!"

Her screams didn't help subside my rage, and I just kept unloading clip after clip into the endless waves. I had already wasted several dozen bullets by the time I realized I wasn't making a dent. But even then, I didn't stop.

"You're wasting your bullets, dude."

"…Huh?" I felt a hand on my shoulder pull me back and another one push my gun down. It took me a second to realize what was happening or who was even speaking to me.

"Here, this might do the trick. Ya might wanna stand back a ways." With that, the hand on my shoulder threw me backwards. As I staggered, I could see the back of an SSS Battlefront uniform, but only for a second. After that…

An explosion rendered everything around me into a pure white. I fell upon the ground as everything became enveloped in a strange light, the likes of which I had never seen before in my life. It was bright enough to blind, and loud enough to deafen.

And he had used it so close to me?

Though it was unbearably painful, the after effects of the explosion only last a few seconds and subsided. The noise and the light faded.

"What the…?" And along with them, the Shadows had disappeared as well. "What… happened?"

"Good to see you're more or less okay. Goes double for Angel, though, huh?" The light was still etched into my eyes, so it took a few seconds before I realized what was going on. "Need help getting up?"

As my sight finally went back to normal, I saw him leaning over me with his hand stretched out to pull me up.

"Matsushita the Fifth." He smiled as I grabbed his hand, gladly accepting his offer.

"Not just me." Using his thumb to point towards where the mass of Shadows had been, he showed me another sight for sore eyes. "Take a look."

T.K. smiled as he began walking towards us, a small girl in his arms.

"Kanade!" I immediately ran over to him to make sure she was okay.

"All clear, enemy defeated." She had passed out during the explosion, but was fine nonetheless. "Friends safe?"

"Yeah, I'm doing alright now… But I dunno what would've happened if you two hadn't shown up when you did." T.K. held Kanade out to me and I scooped her up into my own arms. "What did you even do?"

"That's a question I'll have to delay the answer to for now." Matsushita's strange response and serious tone threw me off a little. He clarified when I gave him a confused look. "There's something we have to show you."

* * *

><p><em>Shadow City - Middle Sector, 12:21 pm<em>

"Hey, Hinata? What exactly is it that you found?"

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Hinata, Fujimaki, and Ooyama continued to walk down the street in (what seemed like) the dead of night. Each held their weapons at the ready for a specific reason. "Still… this area must be infested if the buildings look like this."

Hinata was, of course, referring to how much damage the surrounding area had suffered. Wooden buildings with large sections missing, decaying bricks, shattered concrete; it looked as though it had been left alone for several dozen centuries.

"You're right. I'm guessing we're closing in on the center of the city based off of how it looks. And yet…" Fujimaki looked around, and even as he said that, he could see them looking back. "What do you think they want?"

"Well, at this point…" Hinata saw one move out of the corner of his eye. "I can't imagine they're planning a surprise attack."

Mostly out of sight, but not out of mind, the Shadow Beasts watched the three as they continued on their way to the place Hinata was taking them. Their beady red eyes flashed like lights in the darkness of the decaying buildings, only visible out of the corner of the eye.

"Think they're scared?" Fujimaki smirked as he twirled his Shirasaya around in his hand. "It _is_ a freshly polished, and extremely deadly, blade."

"Don't get too cocky." Hinata lifted his pistol and ejected the clip to make sure it wouldn't jam. "If they attack, we won't have an easy time defeating them all."

"How many ya think there are anyway?"

"…Eight thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine?"

"Yeah, you're not funny." The three continued onward, despite the hundreds of obvious pairs of eyes watching them, and just as they rounded a corner…

"Here we are."

"Wha…?" Around the corner was a wide open area, probably twelve meters in both directions. The street sort of curved into the area but only went a few centimeters inward before stopping. And inside was, "completely untouched…"

Shrubbery inside of concrete planters lined the edges, still green as green can get, wooden benches sat perfectly intact, and the center held a large fountain, still spraying jets of water in all four directions.

"What the hell?"

* * *

><p><em>Shadow City - Northern Sector, 12:25 pm<em>

"What the hell!?" I was almost at a loss for words upon seeing the scene that Matsushita the Fifth showed me. A large plaza area that was still brimming with life; bushes, trees, flowers, benches, and crystal clear water spouting from a fountain.

"Yeah, that was pretty much our reaction." Matsushita stopped only a few steps away from me and looked across the scene. "Take a step inside, try to interact with it."

"…Interact?" Doing as he said, I began to walk forward. But as I neared, each step became harder to take; my chest tightened, my heart skipped several beats, my head stung, and other thing made it feel like this plaza wasn't natural at all. _'What in the world is with this…? It feels like it's getting further away every time I move closer…'_

And that's just what it felt like. Every step I took, it moved three away and, before I realized it, it looked like it was miles off.

'_My head… My head hurts!'_

"Otonashi!" I felt my eyes open with a jerk as Matsushita's voice called out to me. "Get a grip." It took me a few seconds to find my bearings, but I quickly realized it.

"I haven't moved…"

"That about covers it. You started to take that first step, but you never actually went anywhere."

My eyes remained transfixed on the plaza like there was nothing else in the world that concerned me anymore. It captivated me, mind and soul.

"Matsushita the Fifth… Just what the hell is this place?" I heard him sigh and turn to walk away.

"That's the question I want answered. Let's head back to T.K. for now, we shouldn't stray too far from Angel in case her condition gets worse."

* * *

><p><em>Shadow City - Middle Sector, 12:31 pm<em>

Gunshots endlessly rang out through the air, one after the other with no stops. Coupled with the air cutting power of a sword swing and the screams of those who were defeated, that particular area of the city was very noisy.

"Why do they choose now to," a slash and a scream echoed before he even finished, "FIGHT!?" Fujimaki spun the handle of his Shirasaya around to hold it in a reverse grip before jumping into a cloud of Shadows.

"Stop complaining!" Hinata ceaselessly fired his gun, making sure each shot killed several of them. "Just keep slashing so I can conserve bullets!"

"Oh, you're real… ADORABLE!" His slash was so powerful that it created something similar to a sonic boom, destroying everything in its path without discrimination. "Why don't you just… GET A DAMN sword? Sword fighting looks… TEN TIMES cooler than… SHOOTING A GUN!"

'_God, Fujimaki… you're such a broken character.'_

Between the overpowered slashes from Fujimaki's Shirasaya and Hinata's seemingly perfect aim, the thousands of Shadows attacking them stood little to no chance.

"Still, they're starting to get tough…" A click. "Ooyama!"

"Right!" Hinata ejected the clip of his pistol, letting it fall to the ground along with the gun, and threw his hand back. "Here!" It only took about three seconds, maybe even less, and he was already firing into the crowd again.

"Thanks, Ooyama!"

"Hinata! We're gonna hafta fall back at this rate!" Fujimaki continued to hack and slash with expert precision even at the speed he was going, but even Hinata could tell that was beginning to get slower. "I'm taking way too many hits!"

"There isn't very much I can do about that, ya know!?"

"Well, THINK OF SOMETHING, DAMMIT!"

'_There aren't a whole lot of places to run to. After all, the area behind us is…'_ Hinata's mind quickly shot back to what was behind him; a completely unharmed plaza still brimming with life.

"GAAAHHH!"

"Uh, FUJIMAKI!" Distracted by his thoughts, Hinata wasn't able to see what had happened, but Fujimaki was hit badly. "GET OUT OF THERE!"

Blood sprayed through the air as he fell towards the ground, a deadly black spike not far behind.

'_Damn…!'_ He hit the concrete - or what was left of something that _used_ to be concrete - and…

Nothing happened.

"…Huh?" The Shadow Beast that had managed to get through his defenses loomed over him, its spiked arm only a few inches from his chest, ready to end it at any second. And yet… "It's… not moving?"

Hinata and Ooyama stood dumbfounded at the sight before realizing that none of the other ones were moving either. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, just sat there in whatever position they were in, almost like they had frozen.

"What the hell…?" Almost on cue from Hinata's comment, thin black streaks moved through every last one of them, cutting them all straight in half. "AHH!?"

All three of them looked up at the rooftops at the same time, pretty much already knowing what to expect. And what that was… was their savior; a slightly short girl with long, flowing, black hair, standing on a roof like the ninja she pretty much was.

'_Well, well, well. Speaking of broken characters.'_ Hinata couldn't help but crack a smile, and Fujimaki pretty much started dying from laughter.

"…This is so stupid."

"Hey there, Shiina."

* * *

><p>Well, well, well. "Broken characters" in-freaking-deed, Hinata. In my not so humble opinion, Shiina is the Jack Rakan of the Angel Beats universe.<p>

For those of you who _did_ read the original O:SA, it's at this point you can see that the content is beginning to deviate, but I assure you this is only to add more depth and mystery to the story. The plot and events are still going to be quite the same. If you have questions about what I may or may not take out, feel free to PM me about it.

I decided to change up how Fujimaki talks while he fights a bit. If you didn't catch on to it, the capitals in his dialogue are placed during the times he's gearing up for a heavy swing. He shouts at the top of his lungs, swings, and continues talking without missing a beat.

I also decided to make him a little overpowered, solely for the sake of gaining experience in writing overpowered character fights. As some of you know, I'm not very good at battle scenes, so I want to try and get some practice in during the course of this story.

Soredewa. Until Next Time~


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